Coworkers have been resigning, causing our boss to make unreasonable demands to take up the slack, so we start reading the help wanted ads. Someone in church offends us by a chance comment, and we're ready to start looking. Again. Our mate treats us like last week's leftovers, and we wonder how a divorce would affect the kids. Some jerk darts in front of us on the freeway, we slam on our brakes, and are ready to quit being Mr. Nice Guy. Fortunately, our .357 mag is at home.
Anger pushes the limits of our self-control, or disappointment suggests we pack it in.
But God implants within his follower the spiritual fruit of patience, allowing us to choose our response to hard times and pains and losses.
Friends, not to pile it on, but patience literally means “long suffering,” or we continue to deal with some issues without resorting to anger or discouragement. We don’t always have an out, an easy solution that ends the problem. But we do have our Lord, and his Spirit through all of them. That allows us to control our anger, to practice self-restraint. And allows us to not surrender to circumstances beyond our control.
How? God becomes part of us, living within, and he brings his patience, “I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:16).
As with any fruit, patience requires some cultivation—we learn in practice to imbed patience in our character. A couple of cultivation steps.
1 Weed out revenge and doubts: these responses merely bring more negativity.
2 Plant the presence of God in our minds. Think of him continually, and before responding to stressor, consider which response would most honor him and benefit all involved.
3 Fertilize the plants with a regular sense of God’s sovereignty. Realize nothing we experience will surprise him, and that Jesus faced all the struggles and temptations we encounter. The final judgement of life: God wins, so let’s choose an eternal perspective, not just a short term one.
4. Hang in there until the harvest. If we do our part, we can trust that God will do his. He plays the long game, using the short-term issues to work to his kingdom’s advantage, so let’s not retard his work.
Kick Starting the Application
How often does crawling into a hole and staying there tempt you? What best keeps you from doing that? What most brings out your anger? Any ideas why? What works best to keep you from responding in anger? What weeds most threaten to choke out patience?
